Find these two regionalist elements in the story "The Outcasts of Poker Flat."Find and...

Find these two regionalist elements in the story "The Outcasts of Poker Flat."

Find and explain one example of each of these two regionalist elements in the story: 1. Euphemisms: the substitution of a mild, indirect or vague expression for one thought to be too harsh or blunt. 2. Comic Irony: the use of a word or a phrase to suggest the opposite of what is meant, emphasizing the difference between appearance and reality.

Much like some of Mark Twain's narratives, Bret Harte's "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" is a Western story which employs regionalisms, expressions that are distinctly Western. In addition, he wrily makes use of euphemisms to suggest the hypocrisy of the residents of Poker Flat. One such euphemism occurs in the sixth paragraph of Harte's narrative in which the narrator refers to the "certain objectionable characters" whom the residents blame for their misfortunes. These characters are the gambler, Mr. Oakhurst; a woman suspected of being a witch, Mother Shipton; Uncle Billy, a drunkard and a "sluice robber," a thief who takes gold from long troughs used for sifting gold; and a prostitute called Duchess. This group is euphemistically termed, "the deported wickedness of Poker Flat."

An example of comic irony occurs in the eighth paragraph in which the narrator describes the place to which the outcasts must migrate:

The road to Sandy Bar--a camp that, not having as yet experienced the regenerative influences of Poker Flat....

This phrase means that Sandy Bar has not yet lost enough money to gamblers and such that it has "regenerated" its moral code as has Poker Flat. This allusion to the "regenerative influences" refers to the "emigrants" who are expelled from Poker Flat. Here Bret Harte makes fun of the "spasm of virtuous reaction" [par.3] (also comic irony) which is brought about by the financial losses dealt the residents who have engaged in activites with the witch, prostitute, or gambler. The loss of money, etc. has caused the townspeople to angrily seek revenge against these immoral persons by expulsion from town; that is, the hypocritically sanctimonious expulsion of the people who have simply taken the money they have of free choice spent on their own greed or prurient desires.